Rosa Mundi Late 15th Century Living History Group

30/05/2026

With the recent hot weather, my thoughts turned to straw hats in late medieval England.

Like today, straw hats seem to have been valued primarily for protection from the sun. They appear frequently in medieval calendars and Labours of the Months scenes, where both men and women wear them while working outdoors during the summer months. However, straw hats were not just practical workwear but could also be fashionable accessories. An example of this can be seen in the hat worn by Giovanni Arnolfini (Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Wedding Portrait, 1434). This is a large, wide-brimmed hat made of plaited straw and dyed a deep black.

Customs records from 1480–81 indicate that an impressive 56,496 straw hats were imported through the port of London. In these records Antwerp and Bergen op Zoom are identified as important centres supplying the English market.

This volume of imports is perhaps surprising. Straw was plentiful, inexpensive, and widely available, so local production was almost certainly taking place as well.

The records also reveal considerable price variation. Some hats cost as little as 0.18–0.5 pence, while others reached 4.67 pence each, suggesting differences in quality, size, dyeing, or style.

Artwork from the 15th century shows an increasing variety of shapes and styles. Long-lived styles include simple round hats with brims and slightly domed forms, while the distinctive conical hats seen in earlier manuscripts such as the Maciejowski Bible seem to have fallen from fashion by the later Middle Ages.

Some hats appear to have been woven directly from straw, while others were made from braided straw strips sewn together to form the finished shape. Surviving examples are rare, but a straw hat from Kempten, Germany, dating to the 15th–16th century, provides valuable evidence of their construction. It was made from woven or braided strips layered and stitched together to create the final form.

Taken together, the documentary, artistic, and archaeological evidence paints a fascinating picture of the medieval straw hat: practical, widely traded, and sometimes surprisingly fashionable.

Images: Detail from the Mérode Altarpiece by Robert Campin (showing a straw hat with a black band), and a Book of Hours from the Morgan Library.

11/05/2026

This is a follow up from my previous post about medieval cards. Here is an easy to play medieval card game.

Trente et un or Thirty-One is a traditional European card game first recorded in the 15th century. This gambling card game is played by two to seven people, where players attempt to assemble a hand which totals 31 in the same suit.

It was mentioned in a 1440 French translation of a sermon by the Italian saint Saint Bernardino of Siena, suggesting Italian origins. The game later spread across France, England, and Ireland, and became an early precursor to vingt-un, the ancestor of modern blackjack.

Overview
Thirty-One is played with a standard 52-card deck. The aim is to collect cards of the same suit with a total value as close as possible to 31. Players draw and discard cards while trying to improve their hand and avoid having the lowest score at the end of the round.

Card values:
Aces = 11
Face cards = 10
Number cards = face value

Each player starts with:
3 cards
3 lives (traditionally represented by pennies/ coin)

Rules
Setup
Deal 3 cards to each player.
Place the remaining deck face down as the stock pile.
Turn over the top card to begin the discard pile.

Gameplay
Starting with the player to the dealer’s left and moving clockwise:
Draw the top card from either the stock pile or discard pile.
Discard one card.
Players try to build the highest-value hand in a single suit.

Knocking
If a player believes their hand is strong enough, they may “knock” instead of drawing and discarding. A player may decide to take the risk and declare early, rather than try to gain the perfect 31.
After a knock, all other players get one final turn.
Players may either draw and discard or stand with their current hand.
The round then ends.

Blitz
If a player reaches exactly 31 in one suit, called a “blitz,” they immediately reveal their hand.
The round ends instantly.
All other players lose one life. Their penny goes into the pot.

Scoring
At the end of the round:
Only cards from the same suit count toward the score.
If all cards are different suits, only the highest card counts.

Example:
Hearts: King (10), 9, 7 = 26
Mixed suits: Ace, 8, 4 = 11
The player with the lowest score loses one life.

Special Rules
If the knocker ties for lowest score, the knocker is safe.
If the knocker does not beat at least one player, they lose two lives.
A player with no lives remaining is eliminated.

The game continues until only one player remains and the winner takes the pot of coins.

04/05/2026

A huge thank you to Sir John Savile’s Household for the kind invitation to attend their event at Hoghton Tower over the Early May Bank Holiday weekend. It marked the first re-enactment of the season for Rosa Mundi, and what a fantastic way to begin the year.
The weekend brought history to life, with an impressive range of activities, crafts, and living history displays. It was a pleasure to see so many talented groups coming together.

Rosa Mundi members were busy throughout the weekend demonstrating a variety of medieval skills and crafts. These included fletching, armour displays, crossbow and hunting netting, as well as a fascinating look at medieval counting techniques and cooking. A particular highlight was Andy’s preparation of a losegyn (a medieval cheese “lasagna”), made entirely from scratch. From mixing and rolling the pasta dough to boiling the sheets and layering them with cheese and a sprinkling of cinnamon, it was a wonderful demonstration of historical cooking—and tasted just as good as it looked.

This rhyming recipe was written in Middle English, around 1420-1440, in the Liber cure Cocorum.

Loysyns.
In erthen pot put brothe for hast;
Take floure of payndemayn, and make thy past
With water, ther of thy fele thou make
With a roller, and drye hit, I undurtake
thayne tho sonne that hit be harde;
Kast therin brothe and make rewarde;
To sethe hom take rawe chese anone
And grate hit in disshes mony on
With powder dowce; and lay ther in
thy loseyns abofe the chese with wynne,
And powder on last spryngil hit thou may;
those loysyns er harde to make in fay.

This recipe was also around in 1390 – Forme of Curry - “Take gode broth and do in an erthen pot, take flour of payndemayn and make thereof past with water. and make thereof thynne foyles as paper with a roller, drye it harde and seeth it in broth take Chese ruayn grated and lay it in disshes with powdour douce. and lay theron loseyns isode as hoole as thou mizt. and above powdour and chese, and so twyse or thryse, & serve it forth.

I’ve shared a small selection of photos from the event here, If you’d like to see a wider glimpse of the atmosphere and the variety of demonstrations on offer, do take a look at Sir John Savile’s Household page: https://www.facebook.com/savilehousehold/?locale=en_GB
Here’s to a great start to the re-enactment season—we’re already looking forward to the next event!

28/04/2026

Thank you to the Northern Dales Richard III Group for inviting members of Rosa Mundi to present at their study day on 25th April. Our talk explored fifteenth-century clothing, with a focus on the similarities and differences between lower- and higher-status dress.

We also had the privilege of hearing from Yvonne Morley-Chisholm, a voice teacher and vocal coach, who shared insights from her ten-year research project. Her work explores the possibility of recreating the voice of Richard III using primary evidence from his skull and contributions from experts in historic speech, regional pronunciation, anatomy, theatre, history, psychology, and even dentistry. Through this remarkable collaboration, Yvonne and her team are getting as close as possible to the real Richard III.

The link below leads to a History Hit special film, in which Richard III expert Matthew Lewis follows this fascinating project to give Richard III back his voice—and to hear and see him speak once more.

19K likes, 2K comments. "We Reconstructed the Voice of a Medieval King"

15/02/2026

Medieval Playing Cards.
If you’re looking for playing cards in early medieval Europe, you won’t find them. For most of the 13th and early 14th centuries, cards did not appear to exist in Europe. In 1283, Alfonso X catalogued chess, dice, and tables (backgammon) in detail—but no cards. Major literary figures such as Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Chaucer also list popular games but say nothing about card play.
Then, around the mid-1300s, cards appear—and spread with remarkable speed. For a detailed view of the history of playing cards, have a look at "The History of Playing Cards" (ref:1). Scholars continue to debate their origins (Egypt, Persia, Asia or China), how cards entered Europe (Italy, Iberia, or other) and if this was through merchants, diplomats, or by those returning from the crusades.
The earliest known image showing playing cards (c. 1352–62) shows a four-player trick-taking game using Latin suits (coins, cups, swords, and staves). By 1365, cards were clearly documented as in use across southern Europe. For example, Card playing is banned in Bern (1367) and playing card games (or gambling) is banned in Paris on workdays (1377). However, despite the clergy preaching against them and authorities legislating against them, card playing continues to expand at a pace.
By 1400, playing cards were being mass-produced using woodcuts, and “card-maker” was emerging as a recognised profession. By the early 15th century, card play was firmly embedded in everyday life. Bans on playing cards became less frequent, written rules began to appear (such as Karnöffel in 1426), and around 1430 Italy introduced an important innovation with the tarot deck—created for play, not fortune-telling (ref: 2). In 1463, Edward IV of England passed a law restricting the import of foreign playing cards. This followed a petition from English card-makers protesting the influx of cheap continental cards, showing that playing cards were being produced domestically and that the trade was economically significant. However, records from 1480—still within Edward IV’s reign—indicate that cards continued to be imported from abroad, suggesting that demand was high enough to sustain both local production and foreign imports. There are numerous examples of cards being imported: E.g. 2 Jan 1480. From the ship of Clais Thorn called Julyan of Arnemuiden ('Armewth') (Netherlands) - James Bolle, A, 1 chest with 14 grs. playing-cards, £3. 5s. (ref: 3). In this example, a single pack of playing cards is just under half a penny (0.39d per pack – custom tax value). Even when adding a profit to sell the cards, the likely low price would fit well with mass-produced, woodcut-printed cards intended for wide circulation rather than luxury play.

References
Ref 1: History of Playing Cards (1998/2025) https://www.wopc.co.uk/the-history-of-playing-cards/ #:~:text=Published%20January%2028%2C%201998%20%E2%80%A2,such%20as%20dukes%20or%20emperors.
Ref 2: Dummett, M. (1980). The Game of Tarot
Ref 3: Petty Custom account: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/london-record-soc/vol27/pp19-33
Also see:
A history of playing cards (2026) - https://www.gethistories.com/p/a-history-of-playing-cards
McLeod , J and Dummett M (2004) A History of Games Played with the Tarot Pack: The Game of Triumphs
The World in Play: Luxury Cards, 1430–1540
https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2016/world-in-play
The Cloisters Playing Cards (1475) https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/475513

01/01/2026

Happy New Year - New Year and the Turning of the Medieval Year

If you were living in the later Middle Ages, a seemingly simple question could cause real confusion: when does the year actually begin? The answer is both straightforward and awkward—it depends. The medieval New Year was not a single day, but a season, shaped by Roman custom, Christian theology, and the practical demands of governance.

Let’s follow the year as a medieval person might have understood it.

Roman New Year – 1 January
The story begins with the Romans. Under the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, the New Year began on 1 January, known as the calends of January. This marked the start of the political and administrative year. January took its name from Janus, the two-faced god of beginnings, looking both backwards and forwards. That symbolism survived well into the Middle Ages, making January a natural moment for reflection, transition, and hope.

New Year Gifts
By the thirteenth century, New Year’s gift-giving was well established, particularly at court. Henry III famously purchased 307 rings to distribute on 1 January. By the later Middle Ages, New Year’s Day had become a major gift-giving occasion, often more significant than Christmas itself.

Children traditionally received presents on St Nicholas’ Day (6 December)—a custom still observed in parts of Europe—while adults exchanged gifts at New Year. Medieval records more often mention New Year feasts and gifts than Christmas celebrations, underlining the importance of this moment of renewal. Gifts were symbolic as well as generous, reinforcing bonds, obligations, and good fortune for the year ahead.

Twelfth Night – 5 January (Eve of the Epiphany)
If Christmas Day was solemn, Twelfth Night was celebratory. Falling on 5 January, it marked the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas and the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the arrival of the Magi with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

This was a time of feasting, revelry, and wassailing—the medieval forerunner of carol singing—when groups went from door to door exchanging songs for food and drink. In countries such as Spain, Epiphany remains the main day for gift-giving, rooted in the Magi’s visit.

Wassailing also extended to the countryside. Apple trees were ceremonially “wassailed” to encourage a good harvest with the most common traditional dates of Twelfth Night (January 5th or 6th Although some communities, particularly in cider-producing areas of Southwest England like Somerset and Devon, might follow the old Julian calendar date for the ritual. being - Old Twelvey Night (January 17th):

Candlemas – 2 February - end of Christmas celebrations.
Although Twelfth Night ended Christmas on paper, Candlemas was the true farewell. Celebrated on 2 February, it marked the Purification of the Virgin Mary and the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, forty days after Christmas.
Churches glowed with candlelight, and only now did the festive season truly end. So if anyone tells you it’s bad luck to leave decorations up past Twelfth Night, you can smile and point out that, historically speaking, Candlemas is far more accurate.

Lady Day – 25 March - The legal and administrative New Year
Finally, we come to the date that mattered most in medieval England. From the twelfth century onwards, Lady Day (25 March)—the Feast of the Annunciation—served as the legal and administrative New Year.

Rents were paid, contracts renewed, and years reckoned from this date. Theologically, it marked the conception of Christ, placed exactly nine months before Christmas. For clerks and chroniclers, this—not January—was when the year truly turned.

Its legacy remains. When England adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752, Lady Day shifted by eleven days to 5 April, which is why the UK tax year still begins then today.

In the medieval world, New Year was not a single celebration but a gradual turning, unfolding across feasts, gifts, candles, and paperwork—each marking a different kind of beginning.

ref: https://www.historytoday.com/archive/gregorian-calendar-adopted-england
https://www.medievalists.net/2015/12/celebrating-the-new-year-medieval-style/
https://www.historyhit.com/how-did-the-medieval-world-celebrate-new-year/

24/12/2025

Happy Christmas and New Year

21/12/2025

As we approach Christmas I thought I would share with you a recipe for Hypocras a medieval spiced wine. 🍷

Hypocras was a popular medieval spiced wine. Mulled drinks like this weren’t just for winter — they were enjoyed all year round and could be served hot or cold. Hypocras was often offered at the end of a meal to aid digestion, or served to honoured guests as a mark of hospitality.

The recipe below comes from medieval sources and makes a wonderfully fragrant, warming drink. Some of the spices can be tricky to source today, but don’t worry — sensible substitutions still give excellent results.

Le Viandier de Taillevent, ]:
Hippocras. Take four ounces of very fine cinnamon, two ounces of fine cassia flowers, an ounce of selected Mecca ginger, an ounce of grains_of_paradise, and a sixth [of an ounce] of nutmeg and galingale combined. Crush them all together. Take a good half ounce of this powder and eight ounces of sugar [(which thus makes Sweet Powder)], and mix it with a quart of wine.

another recipe from Libre del Coch.
Spices for Hippocras: Five parts cinnamon, three parts cloves, one part ginger; half of the wine must be white and half of it red, and for one azumbre, six ounces of sugar, mix everything together and cast it in a small glazed earthenware pot and give it a boil, when it comes to a boil, [cook it] no more, strain it through your sleeve often enough that it comes out clear.

ABOUT THOSE SPICES… 🌿

Some of these ingredients are less familiar today: You can buy medieval spices from https://thespiceshop.co.uk/

Long pepper and grains of paradise can be bought online. If you cannot order these: you can use black pepper as a substitute.

Galingale (galangal) is actually easier to find fresh than dried nowadays, thanks to its use in Thai cooking. Dried galangal is also available and if you cannot find in local shops, it can be ordered online.

In medieval contexts, "fine cassia flower" or, more accurately, cassia buds are actually the dried, unripe fruits of the Cinnamomum cassia tree, the same species that produces the common cassia bark often labelled as cinnamon today

If you have to leave out one or two spices, don’t worry — medieval cooks were practical people, and the result will still be delicious. The Kuchenmaistrey: A 15th-Century German Cookbook demonstrates this pragmatic approach when it states in some of the recipes "use what good spices you have to hand".

A SIMPLE, PRACTICAL VERSION 🍷

Pour wine into a saucepan and add your chosen spices (using the list above as a guide). Heat gently until just scalding — do not boil, or you’ll lose the alcohol. Let the spices steep for around 10 minutes.

Strain through muslin or cloth into a clean jug or pan, sweeten with sugar (or honey to taste), and serve hot or cold.

Rich, fragrant, and unmistakably medieval — hypocras is the perfect companion to a meat-filled mince pie. Enjoy!

03/12/2025

🔥 The Medieval Curfew and the Curfew Pot 🔥
Ever wondered where the word curfew comes from?
It’s not originally about staying indoors after dark—it began as a simple act of medieval fire safety! The word “curfew” comes from the Norman French couvre-feu, meaning “cover the fire.”
A curfew pot was an everyday household object designed to keep families (and their neighbours!) safe overnight.
The Curfew pot is:
• A domed ceramic or metal cover placed over the embers of a hearth. (photo 14th c metal curfew from Aardenburg)
• Designed to smother open flames while keeping the coals warm.
• Equipped with a small top handle and, often, tiny vents to allow just enough air through to keep the embers alive.

Each evening, households would lower a curfew pot over the hearth to extinguish open flames without completely killing the warmth. This kept the embers safely smouldering until morning—perfect for quickly restarting the fire at dawn.
The curfew bell was traditionally rung to signal the close of daily activity and remind people to cover their fires, reducing the risk of houses burning down in the night. Over time, the term expanded and became associated with laws restricting movement after dark, a way to maintain order and reduce crime.
At Rosa Mundi, we keep this wonderful tradition alive! When we’re at events, you might spot a large pottery dome—rather like a giant ceramic cake cover—resting over our fire at night. That’s our curfew pot, beautifully crafted by Trinity Court Potteries. (www.trinitycourtpotteries.co.uk)
You can even see it in action in our early-morning photo: the pot still sitting over the hearth while fresh firewood is being chopped in the background.
It keeps stray sparks in check if the wind picks up and ensures the coals stay gently glowing until morning, ready to be rekindled.
So if you spot it at our next event, come and ask us about it—we love sharing the history behind these brilliant medieval tools!

11/10/2025

“Great Nuts” and Distant Shores: The Presence of Coconuts in Medieval Europe

Whether coconuts were known and traded in the later Middle Ages has long intrigued historians. Recent scholarship, however, has begun to clarify the issue and to reveal the remarkable ways in which this tropical fruit entered the European imagination.

One particularly illuminating study, “Gripping It by the Husk: The Medieval English Coconut”, published in The Medieval Globe (available via Project MUSE)[1], offers a detailed examination of these imports. The article explains that during the Middle Ages coconuts were often referred to as “great nuts” or “nuts of India.” They were not regarded as food in the modern sense, but rather as prized materials—valued for their medicinal uses and, above all, for their hard shells. These shells were transformed by European craftsmen into luxurious and decorative drinking vessels, often mounted in silver and reserved for the wealthy and powerful.

Textual and Artistic Evidence
Evidence for coconuts in medieval Europe can be traced through both textual and visual sources. A 15th-century printed edition of Dioscorides’s Tractatus De Herbis includes an illustration depicting a merchant’s scales weighing coconuts—an image that alludes directly to their status as high-value commodities. (attached photo)
in the image - A Goldsmith in his Shop, by Petrus Christus, 1449, in Bruges; there is a coconut cup to the right of his head. (attached photo)

Material Survivals
Surviving examples of coconut artefacts further substantiate their presence. The Master and Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, for instance, preserve two early coconut cups—among the earliest known in England—with the larger dating to the early fifteenth century. Another fine example is a travelling cup from circa 1503, probably Italian, made from a coconut shell mounted in silver gilt [ attached photo.]. These objects were not utilitarian but emblematic of luxury and exoticism.

Trade Records and “Nuts” in Transit
Documentary sources provide additional insights. Some medieval records mention “9 nuts in a bag” or “1 bag with 13 nuts,” which have sometimes been interpreted as references to nutmegs. Yet this interpretation seems doubtful. In the same accounts, nutmegs are clearly identified elsewhere: for example, John Russyngthorp is recorded as importing “1 barrel with 336 lbs. nutmegs, £16 16s.8d.” and another containing “193 lbs. nutmegs, 8 clouts of Cologne silk, £37.”[2] Such quantities demonstrate the large-scale trade in nutmegs, making it unlikely that smaller shipments described simply as “nuts” referred to the same spice. It is therefore plausible that these “nuts” were coconuts— (unless anyone has any other thoughts!)

Coconuts in the Kitchen
Further evidence for coconuts, or noci d’India, can be found in culinary texts. One Italian recipe provides a fascinating reference:

Original text
Togli cenamo, garofani, noci moscate, noci d’India, fegati di uccelli, tuorla d’ova e uccelli piccioli, interi o partiti, e friggili con lardo: poi li cuoci nel detto brodo, e fa’ come di sopra è detto.

Translation
Take cinnamon, cloves, nutmegs, nuts of India, livers of birds, egg yolks, and small birds, whole or in pieces. Make a soffritto with lardo, then cook them in the sauce and prepare as previously described for the hare—pour the sauce over, let it cool until warm, and serve.

The phrase noci d’India—literally “nuts of India”—was commonly used in medieval and early modern Italian to describe coconuts (noci dell’India or noci d’Indie). Their inclusion among costly spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg underscores their status as exotic and prestigious ingredients. Even if used sparingly or symbolically, their mention attests to the awareness of coconuts within the culinary and cultural milieu of late medieval Europe.

Conclusion
Taken together, the documentary, artistic, and archaeological evidence suggests that while coconuts were by no means commonplace, they were not entirely unknown in medieval Europe. They occupied a small but significant niche within the network of luxury trade that connected Europe with Asia and the Indian Ocean world.

https://www.aramcoworld.com/articles/2017/cracking-coconuts-history

https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/306/article/758503?fbclid=IwY2xjawNXgsxleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHiuoF5bJcVPG9-0bqobTpjv6kVFxw1--rXUNt3dXJzisxlFbiuThUHtN2_o2_aem_8WZ_6ENSngBQy9l3yafCTQ

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/london-record-soc/vol27/pp33-52